Portugal appears to view immigration with relative calm and pragmatism rather than alarm. According to an ICS-ULisboa study, 65% of residents believe immigrants are beneficial to the economy, while only 14% see them as harmful. The positive assessment has also risen markedly over the past year, by nearly seven percentage points.

Another notable shift is that 52% of respondents do not believe newcomers are taking jobs away from Portuguese workers. At the same time, 73% say that when jobs are scarce, hiring priority should go to Portuguese citizens.

The picture, then, is far from black and white. Most people in Portugal do not see immigration as the country’s main problem: it ranks only sixth on the list of political concerns. Far greater anxieties are linked to prices, low wages, corruption and the state of the healthcare system. For a country whose economy is becoming increasingly dependent on foreign labour, that is a telling signal. Chega, too, might want to take a look at those numbers.